Toyota said that a new redesigned Prius wouldn't launch for more than a year

Toyota said it is considering making a significant change to the design of its wedge-shaped Prius.

According to the automaker, it hasn't chosen a new design for the Prius yet, but it is trying to determine whether to "evolve it," or "really evolve it." It is currently reviewing clay-model prototypes for the new Prius design.

"There's an undercurrent among most people that they're ready for a new Prius look," said Chris Hostetter, Toyota's vice president for strategic planning in the U.S. "Maybe our architecture has been a little bit similar for the last two generations."

The Prius, which was first launched in Japan in 1997 and the U.S. in 2000, had an exterior design that was altered from Toyota's Yaris sedan.

A second generation Prius was released in 2003, where it received the raked hood and windshield. From 2003 to 2004, Prius sales increased dramatically from 43,162 to 125,742.

Toyota said that a new redesigned Prius wouldn't launch for more than a year.

Jonny Lieberman, senior features editor at Motor Trend, recently spoke with his sources at Toyota and shared a bit of secret info about the next Prius. Lieberman hinted that the next Prius will have a fuel economy rating of 60 mpg. This shouldn't be too hard to achieve assuming a lighter vehicle weight, more powerful electric motor, and a switch from NiMH to lithium-ion batteries.

The 1.6T with a custom datalog ECU tune on 93 octane fuel would safely produce over 200WHP and 250LBS. The knock sensor is very sensitive and the injectors only work at 70% capacity at its rated peak 178hp. For a 3300lb car costing under $26k, I think this is a more balanced option than the 2.0T which would give slightly more power while scaling with slightly worse fuel economy and too much torque for FWD.

I've always felt balance perfection for NA engines is around 500cc/cylinder, while boosted engines is around 400cc/cylinder. I love the fun of a big cubic V8, but honestly anything more than 250ft/lb on FWD can ruin drivability. My Focus ST is ridiculous and will be getting a torsion LSD as soon as Ford Racing has them in stock. I still feel my SVT Focus and 7MGTE Supra are the most refined driving projects I ever built and both have pretty small engines while still making weight\power ratio <5:1